Package for Distributing and Storing a Plurality of Sanitary Products

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a package ( 1, 1′, 1″, 1′″, 1″″ ) for distributing and storing a plurality of compressible sanitary products ( 3 ), the package comprising at least one compressible sanitary product and at least one resilient member ( 50, 52, 54, 56, 58 ) for exerting a compression force on at least one of the sanitary products.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to packages for distributing and storing a plurality of sanitary products.

In the following, sanitary products are understood to be bulky and compressible products, the primary function of which is to absorb and hold bodily fluids.

In the field of sanitary products, in particular in the field of sanitary napkins and diapers/napkins for babies or as incontinence products, the sanitary products are usually packaged for distribution by wrapping a wrapper, in particular a plastics film, around the plurality of sanitary products that is to be distributed. The resulting package can then easily be distributed to the retailers and to the end users.

The packages are usually not only used for distribution but also for storage of the sanitary products at the location of the end user. One of the problems associated with packages for sanitary products made from flexible wrappers is that the package tends to become unstable and untidy as soon as the first sanitary products are taken out of the package. This happens due to the loss of volume inside the package which leads to a situation in which the flexible wrapper material is not under tension anymore. Furthermore, it is often customary to construct the packages such that sanitary products can easily be taken from the packages due to the provision of an expansion mechanism that allows the package to expand after opening it. The package can then topple and sanitary products may fall out of the package, which may lead to hygienic contamination.

Furthermore, it is desired to maintain the absorption properties of diapers or napkins after the package is opened. In this regard, it is particularly desired to maintain the wicking properties of the absorbent core of the sanitary products. Wicking is the property of the absorbent core to spread a liquid from the portion where it first contacts the absorbent core to an extended area surrounding this portion. The wicking of the absorbent core of the diapers ensures that an extended area of the absorbent core is used to absorb fluids which leads to improved absorption properties.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

US 2005/0077500 discloses a package with an enclosed compartment for storing an array of compressible articles. The package includes an expansion mechanism for allowing the enclosed compartment to be enlarged.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,799,695 B1 discloses a sanitary napkin dispensing device to be mounted on a wall. Sanitary napkins can be placed into the dispenser and it is provided with a spring that is mounted on a hinged lid in order to align the sanitary napkins in the correct position to be grasped by a user.

EP 0 520 885 A1 describes a dispensing device comprising two pieces of cardboard which are pre-tensioned with regard to each other in order to force tissue paper towards a dispensing opening in one of the cardboard pieces of the dispenser.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY

One objective is to provide a package for distributing and storing a plurality of compressible sanitary products which substantially maintains the absorption properties of the sanitary products inside the package, in particular the wicking properties.

This objective is solved by a package for distributing and storing a plurality of compressible sanitary products with at least one resilient member for exerting a compression force on the at least one compressible sanitary product.

Sanitary products are understood to be bulky and compressible products, the primary function of which is to absorb and hold bodily fluids.

It has been found by the inventors that it is possible to substantially maintain the wicking properties of compressible sanitary products, after a package has been opened, if a compression is exerted on the compressible sanitary products, in particular on the absorbent cores thereof. The compression of the sanitary products causes the sanitary products to remain in a compressed state and thus to keep their ideal bulk. It has been found that when the compression on the sanitary product is reduced, the bulk increases and the wicking properties and, thus, the absorption properties tend to deteriorate over time.

A package with the above-mentioned features exerts a compression on the at least one sanitary product, in particular on the diapers/napkins, in order to maintain their original bulk. Thus, their wicking properties are maintained even if the package is not full any more. Since the wicking properties of the absorbent core are maintained, the absorption properties are maintained as well since efficient wicking leads to an extended volume in the absorbent core that is used to absorb the fluids. The resilient member serves to compress the sanitary product even after several sanitary products have been removed from the package.

As will be appreciated, the amount of compression depends very much on the material used for the resilient member. The ideal resilient member exerts a constant compression from a full package down to the very last sanitary product in the package in order to maintain the wicking properties of the sanitary product.

The provision of a resilient member is diametrically opposed to the prior art teachings that rather propagate to release the compression of a package when opening it the first time, in order to easily facilitate the removal of the sanitary products from the package.

A package with the above-mentioned features has the additional advantage that the sanitary products within the package are kept, due to the resilient member that exerts a compression on the sanitary products, in a tidy arrangement even when a number of sanitary products have been removed from the package.

In order to maintain the compression force on the sanitary products in the package after it has been opened and one or more sanitary products have been removed from the package, the resilient member still exerts a compression force on the sanitary products after removal of at least one of the sanitary products from the package.

Preferably, the resilient member is dimensioned such that it exerts a compression on the sanitary products from a full package down to a package filled to one third. In a preferred embodiment, the compression exerted on the sanitary products is substantially constant from a full package down to a package filled to one third. This allows the maintenance of the wicking properties from the full package down to a package that is filled to at least one third.

It is preferred to dimension the resilient member to compress the sanitary products to have a total bulk of 3-6 cm³/g. This compression ensures that the wicking properties and thus the absorption properties of the sanitary product are maintained. The values given are equally valid for absorbent products comprising superabsorbent polymers (SAP) and for products without superabsorbent polymers that only contain cores made from fibers.

Different resilient materials can be employed to provide the resilient member. In a preferred embodiment, the resilient member is made from a natural elastic polymer and/or a synthetic elastic polymer exhibiting a high elongation. Of particular advantage is a resilient member that exhibits an elongation of at least 100%, preferably of at least 200%, more preferred of at least 300%, most preferred of more than 400%, in particular at least 500%. Such a resilient member has the advantage of maintaining the compression force over a wide range of quantities of sanitary products in the package. In particular, with a resilient member of these material properties, it is possible to maintain the compression in a package from a state in which it is fully filled with sanitary products down to a state in which only a few sanitary products remain. Most preferred, the compression is maintained until the last sanitary product in the package.

In preferred embodiments, the resilient member is made from low crystallinity polyethylene, metallocene catalyzed low crystallinity polyethylene, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA), polyurethane, polyisopropene, butadiene-styrene copolymers and/or styrene block copolymers, in particular styrene/isoprene/styrene (SIS), styrene/butadiene/styrene (SBS) or styrene/ethylene-butadiene/styrene block copolymers, and/or blends of the aforementioned polymers. These materials or material blends exhibit high elongations and are thus suited for the purpose. Materials suitable for the resilient member are also described, for example, but not limited thereto, in WO 2004/021949, WO 03/047488, EP 0 521 883, EP 0 582 596, WO 97/20091 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,056.

In order to form a resilient member such that it corresponds to the design criteria and the mechanical criteria of the respective package, the resilient member can be made of elastic material formed into a film or into an elastic laminate. However, the actual type of material used for the resilient member is not essential, as long as it maintains the necessary elastic properties over a long time period, even if it is partially or fully stretched over this time period.

In a preferred embodiment, the package may comprise a wrapper for wrapping the sanitary products. A wrapper is understood to be a laminar foil, plastic foil or the like which does not impose any structural support on the package. Such a wrapper protects the sanitary products from dust and humidity when they are distributed to the retailers and to the end users and serves as a cover when the sanitary products are stored at the location of the end user.

Conventional packages made from flexible wrappers tend to topple over very easily as soon as the first sanitary products have been removed from the package. These conventional packages, thus, have a very untidy appearance as soon as a certain number sanitary products is removed from the package. Packages made from wrappers have, on the other hand, the advantage of being inexpensive to produce and are lightweight.

The package has the stableness of a conventional cardboard package and does not topple over when a certain number of sanitary products is taken from the package but has at the same time all advantages of conventional wrapper packages.

The wrapper of the package can be inextensible, in particular an inextensible film. This has the advantage that the forces that are exerted by the resilient member can be transferred via the wrapper directly on the sanitary products. It is particularly preferred that the at least one resilient member interacts with the wrapper to compress the sanitary products contained within the wrapper.

The surface areas of the wrapper and of the resilient member can vary over a wide range starting from an embodiment where the resilient members are present as small strips up to a situation in which the wrapper is provided only in small strips. In particular, the wrapper material can be present on the top and bottom of the package only, the rest of the package being covered by the resilient member.

In a preferred embodiment, the at least one resilient member is attached to the wrapper. In a further preferred embodiment, the at least one resilient member can be integrated in the wrapper. These embodiments improve the exertion of compression forces that act on the sanitary products and, at the same time, decrease the packaging size and increase the production and distribution efficiency.

In a preferred embodiment, the at least one resilient member is a strip of resilient material arranged on a side surface of the package. Furthermore, at least two strips of resilient material can be arranged on opposing side surfaces of the package. These embodiments serve to exert a more even compression on the sanitary products, in particular when the strips are arranged on opposing side surfaces of the package.

In a preferred embodiment, at least two resilient strips are arranged on a single side surface of the package. This arrangement allows to arrange the resilient strips according to previously identified compression needs during the process of emptying the package. This becomes even more important when the package has, according to a further preferred embodiment, at least two compartments for storing at least one sanitary product each, and at least one resilient member is associated with each compartment. Here, the compression forces acting on the individual compartments are independent from each other such that optimum compression can be ensured. Preferably, the compartments are separable from each other.

This separation can be achieved when the compartments are connected to each other via a perforated connection in the wrapper. This particular embodiment allows to easily tear off individual compartments, for example, to distribute them to different locations in a household of the end user or to take one of the compartments along when travelling.

In yet another preferred embodiment, the wrapper itself forms the resilient member. To achieve this, the wrapper can be made from a resilient material, in particular the resilient material that is described above. Such a package comprising a wrapper made from a resilient material allows, very comfortably and easily, a compression of the sanitary products within the package. Furthermore, no additional components are necessary besides the wrapper made from the resilient material.

In a preferred embodiment, the resilient member is a resilient belt for embracing at least two sanitary products in the package. Such a resilient belt can have a substantially ring-like form which embraces and/or surrounds either all of the sanitary products in the package or sections of the sanitary products. In the latter case, at least one resilient belt for each section is provided. This particular resilient belt has the advantage that it is not necessary to utilise the wrapper for transferring the forces of the resilient member on the sanitary products. The resilient belt itself transfers the forces to the compressible sanitary products.

In order to package the sanitary products in a different embodiment, the package can comprise a substantially rigid cover for covering the sanitary products, in particular made from a cardboard material.

Conventional cardboard packages or other packages with rigid walls remain, at least on the outside, intact and do not have the tendency to topple over until the last sanitary product is taken from the package. In combination with a resilient member that embraces the sanitary products inside the box in a manner as described above, also the wicking properties of the sanitary products retained within the cover are maintained in an advantageous manner.

The package can comprise disposable diapers/napkins, in particular disposable baby diapers or disposable incontinence diapers, or sanitary napkins. For these products, it is particularly advantageous that a constant pressure is exerted on each and every product before it is used in order to maintain the bulk and thus the wicking properties.

In order to be able to easily take sanitary products out of the package, it is preferred to arrange an adhesive pad on the outside of the package to adhere the package to a surface. This is particularly helpful when the adhesive pad is situated on the side of the package opposite to an opening for removing sanitary products from the package, in particular on a lower side of the package. Since the resilient member places a constant compression on the sanitary products, the friction for taking a sanitary product out of the package is increased. Thus, higher removal forces are necessary to remove a sanitary product from the package, which consequently leads to a situation in which the package has to be held with both hands. On the other hand, when changing diapers, in particular of a baby, it is preferred to have one hand free to hold the baby. An adhesive pad placed on the lower side of the package keeps the package in its position and prevents it from falling off the respective surface or from toppling over and, thus, is convenient and safe to use.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, exemplary embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to schematic drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a package in a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the package of FIG. 1 in a half-filled state;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a package according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a package in a third embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of the package of FIG. 4 in a half-filled state;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of the package of FIGS. 4 and 5 in an even more emptied state of the package;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a package of a fourth embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective drawing of a package of a fifth embodiment; and

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the wicking properties of absorption cores having different core bulks.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, corresponding parts or elements in the different drawings will be denoted by the same reference numerals.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a package 1 for distributing and storing a plurality of compressible sanitary products in a first embodiment. The package as shown in FIG. 1 has a substantially cuboid shape and comprises a wrapper 2 that is wrapped around the sanitary products (not shown) contained inside the package 1. The package 1, furthermore, comprises two resilient members in the form of two resilient strips 50, 52 which are attached to the side surfaces 20, 22 of the package 1.

The resilient members 50, 52 are, in the present embodiment, formed as resilient strips which are attached to the side surfaces of the package 1. The resilient strips 50, 52 can be placed either on the outside of the wrapping material 2, or on the inside or can also be integrated in the wrapper 2.

FIG. 2 shows the package of FIG. 1 in a situation in which several of the sanitary products have been taken out of the package 1 and the package 1 is in a half-filled state. The resilient strips 50, 52 have compressed the wrapper 2 of the package 1 such that the compression on the sanitary products inside of the package 1 remains substantially the same as that exerted on the sanitary products in FIG. 1. It can be clearly taken from FIGS. 1 and 2 that the volume inside the wrapper 2 essentially corresponds to the remaining sanitary products within the package 1.

The resilient strips 50, 52 are, in their initial arrangement, as it is shown in FIG. 1, in an extended state. The material used for the resilient strips 50, 52 is a material that has a high elongation. The material of the resilient strips 50, 52 is made such that the compression within the package 1 can be maintained from a full package down to a level of the package where only about a third of the sanitary products remain inside the wrapper. In an ideal arrangement, the compression on the sanitary products can be maintained until the very last product in the package 1.

The resilient strips 50, 52 are dimensioned such that they exert a compression on the sanitary products within the wrapper 2 such that the total bulk of the sanitary products in the wrapper, in particular diapers/napkins within the wrapper, is in a range of 3 to 6 cm³/g.

The bulk of the absorbent core of the diaper/napkin is measured with the following method: the core is taken and the area of said core is measured, thereafter the thickness of the core is measured and the two values, namely the area and the thickness, are multiplied with each other. The core is then weighed and the first value is divided by the weight of the core.

In an exemplary embodiment, a core of a diaper has the size of 10×10 cm which gives an area 100 cm², the thickness of said core being 3 mm, which gives a value of 100×0.3=30 cm³, the weight of the core is 10 g. The calculated total bulk of the product is then 30/10=3 cm³/g.

The compression exerted on the core necessarily influences the thickness of the core, whereas a high compression value will give a lower bulk value due to a reduction of the thickness of the core. If the bulk is higher, i.e. below 3, the wicking of the liquid in the product will be reduced.

In FIG. 9, this finding of the inventors is depicted in a graph. Three different absorption cores comprising 14 g pulp and 12 g super absorbing polymers (SAP) are made to have a core bulk of 6, 8 and 10 cm³/g. The wicking properties of the cores are measured. To measure the wicking properties, the cores are held at an inclination angle of 45° with regard to the horizontal plane. The lower side of the core is immersed 2 cm deep in a test fluid comprising 0.9% NaCl and a colour. The fluid level is maintained such that a constant immersion can be assured. This can be done by refilling the reservoir of test fluid as soon as the absorbent cores have absorbed a certain quantity of the test fluid. Subsequently, the length of the wet area is measured as a measure for the wicking properties of the core. As can be taken from the diagram, the wicking properties are much better for a core with a core bulk of 6 cm³/g than for a core having a core bulk of 10 cm³/g.

It is well known that the bulk of pulp cores and combined pulp—SAP cores increases over time if the compression of the core is not maintained. Absorbent cores are formed by a mat formation process. This process includes shredding of pulp sheets into fibres and then depositing said fibres onto an air permeable carrier sheet. Below the carrier sheet one or more suction portions are placed to aid in depositing the fibres onto the carrier sheet. This formation results in absorbent cores which have a bulk value which is above 10 cm³/g. Due to this manufacturing method, the core has a fluffy structure and acts like a sponge material, i.e. if the core is compressed and then the compression force is released, the core will tend to expand and, thereby, the bulk value will increase. Consequently, the wicking properties tend to deteriorate when an absorption core remains over a longer time without external compression.

The material that can be used for the resilient strips 50, 52 preferably has a high elongation of at least 100%, preferably of at least 200%, more preferred of at least 300%, most preferred of more than 400%, in particular at least 500%. Such material will provide a compression force over a wide range of volumes and, thus, filling levels of the package 1. In other words, such resilient material can maintain the compression on the sanitary products in a situation in which the package is full and also in a situation in which the package is already emptied to a greater extent.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the compression forces of the resilient strips 50, 52 are exerted on the sanitary products via the wrapper 2. The wrapper itself is not resilient or, at least, not as resilient as the resilient strips 50, 52 and can be, for example, inextensible. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the forces exerted by the resilient strips 50, 52 act on the side surfaces 20, 22 of the wrapper 2 and then on the end faces 24, 26 of the wrapper 2 which, consequently, exert the compression forces 50, 52 on the sanitary products within the package 1.

FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the package 1′ having a wrapper 2 comprising a plurality of compartments 200 which each serve to receive sanitary products, in particular, a certain amount of sanitary products, for example, five diapers per compartment. The compartments 200 in the wrapper 2 are connected to each other via a perforated connection 210 in the wrapper 2 which serves to tear off the compartments from each other in order to provide smaller packages. Accordingly, in the areas of the perforated connection 210, end faces are provided within the package 1 such that each of the compartments 200 is self-contained in that it is surrounded by the wrapper.

A number of resilient strips 56 are provided on the side surfaces 220 of the compartments 200. Each compartment 200 has its own pair of opposing resilient strips 56. Thus, the sanitary products inside the compartments 200 can be compressed reliably.

The third embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, shows an embodiment in which a package 1″ is made of a wrapper 2 which is the resilient material itself. The wrapper 2 can be made of any resilient material having a high elongation such that a compression on the sanitary products within the package 1″ can be maintained even if, as shown in FIG. 5, half of the package 1″ is emptied or, as shown in FIG. 6, more than two thirds of the package is emptied.

For the last few sanitary products, however, a compression usually cannot be maintained due to the material properties of the resilient member used. In the third embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the wrapping material 2, which is at the same time the resilient member 58, has material properties such that a compression can be maintained at least down to a state in which only one third of the sanitary products remains in the package.

FIG. 7 shows a fourth embodiment of the package 1″″ in which the sanitary products 3, which, in this embodiment, are depicted as diapers 3, are packaged together by an resilient belt 54 provided around all the products 3. In this arrangement, a constant compression force can be exerted on the diapers 3. The resilient belt 54 can either be attached to a wrapper (not shown in this Figure) that is wrapped around the resilient belt 54 and the sanitary products 3 inside the package 1″″ or can be unattached to any of the other parts of the package 1″″.

FIG. 8 shows a perspective schematic drawing of a package 1″″ in a further embodiment which comprises an opening 4 in the wrapper 2 through which sanitary products contained within the wrapper 2 can be taken from the package 1″″. Naturally, such an opening can also be present in the packages described before.

On the lower side of the package 1″″ which is the side opposite to the side that is provided with the opening 4, an adhesive section 6 is arranged on the outside of the wrapper 2 which serves to adhere the package 1″″ to a surface. The adhesive section 6 ensures that the package 1″″ is held securely in place when a sanitary product is removed through the opening 4. Naturally, the adhesive section can also be used with the other packages described above.

Any combinations of the features as described above with regard to the respective embodiments can be combined in any way in order to solve the objective of the present invention. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed above. 

1. A package for distributing and storing a plurality of compressible sanitary products, the package comprising at least one compressible sanitary product and at least one resilient member for exerting a compression force on the at least one compressible sanitary product, wherein the package comprises at least two compressible sanitary products and the resilient member is arranged to exert a compression force on the sanitary products even after removal of at least one of the sanitary products from the package.
 2. The package according to claim 1, wherein the package comprises a plurality of compressible sanitary products and the resilient member is arranged such that it exerts a compression on the sanitary products from a full package down to a package filled to one third.
 3. The package according to claim 2, wherein the compression exerted on the sanitary products is substantially constant from a full package down to a package filled to one third.
 4. The package according to claim 1, wherein the resilient member is arranged to compress the at least one sanitary product to have a total bulk of 3-6 cm³/g.
 5. The package according to claim 1, wherein the resilient member is made from a natural elastic polymer and/or a synthetic elastic polymer exhibiting a high elongation.
 6. The package according to claim 5, wherein the resilient member exhibits an elongation of at least 100%.
 7. The package according to claim 5, wherein the resilient member is made from low crystallinity polyethylene, metallocene catalyzed low crystallinity polyethylene, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymers (EVA), polyurethane, polyisopropene, butadiene-styrene copolymers and/or styrene block copolymers.
 8. The package according to claim 1, wherein the resilient member is made of elastic material formed into a film or into an elastic laminate.
 9. The package according to claim 1, further comprising a wrapper for wrapping the at least one sanitary product.
 10. The package according to claim 9, wherein the material of the wrapper is inextensible.
 11. The package according to claim 9, wherein the at least one resilient member interacts with the wrapper to compress the at least one sanitary product.
 12. The package according to claim 9, wherein the at least one resilient member is attached to the wrapper.
 13. The package according to claim 9, wherein the at least one resilient member is integrated in the wrapper.
 14. The package according to claim 12, wherein the at least one resilient member is a strip of resilient material arranged on at least one side surface of the package.
 15. The package according to claim 14, wherein at least two strips of resilient material are arranged on opposing side surfaces of the package.
 16. The package according to claim 14, wherein at least two resilient strips are arranged on a single side surface of the package.
 17. The package according to claim 9, wherein the wrapper comprises at least two compartments for storing at least one sanitary product each, at least one resilient member being associated with each compartment.
 18. The package according to claim 17, wherein the compartments are separable from each other.
 19. The package according to claim 18, wherein the compartments are connected to each other via a perforated connection in the wrapper.
 20. The package according to claim 1, wherein the resilient member forms a wrapper for wrapping the at least one sanitary product.
 21. The package according to claim 20, wherein the wrapper is made from a resilient material.
 22. The package according to claim 1, wherein the resilient member is a resilient belt for embracing the at least one sanitary product in the package.
 23. The package according to claim 22, wherein the package comprises at least two compressible sanitary products and at least two separate resilient belts are present in the package embracing a separate section each of the sanitary products.
 24. The package according to claim 1, further comprising a substantially rigid cover.
 25. The package according to claim 1, wherein the package comprises disposable diapers.
 26. (canceled)
 27. The package according to claim 10, wherein the material of the wrapper is an inextensible film.
 28. The package according to claim 24, wherein the substantially rigid cover is made from a cardboard material.
 29. A method of packaging and compressing sanitary products comprising: arranging at least one compressible sanitary product with at least one resilient member and exerting a compression force on the at least one compressible sanitary product via the resilient member.
 30. The method of claim 29, wherein the at least one compressible sanitary product includes disposable diapers or sanitary napkins.
 31. The method of claim 29, wherein arranging the at least one compressible sanitary product with the at least one resilient member includes arranging the at least one compressible sanitary product within the at least one resilient member. 